The very sad news came in the past few days that Marcia Lucas, the incredibly talented film editor who made her mark with the original Star Wars and many other movies, has passed away at the age of 80.
From what I've heard over the years, Marcia came into the production of Star Wars after her then-husband George Lucas had shown a cut of the movie to his friends. The near unanimous verdict (Steven Spielberg was the only one in the room who said he liked it) was that George had a disaster on his hands. That first cut was a narrative nightmare.
And then Marcia swooped in and said that she would fix it.
And she did.
Among other things she made it so that Princess Leia was much more action-oriented than she had been first perceived to be. That was a huge thing that made a tremendous impact not only on the film but on the expansive saga that Star Wars came to be. And then there was the final assault on the Death Star. Marcia had 40,000-some feet of footage to whittle down and assemble into a cinematic dogfight as good as any ever put on film. It took two months of work. The result was a battle that became one of the most epic from any movie ever.
Marcia Lucas also worked on American Graffiti and Taxi Driver. She would contribute to The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, which was her final film credit.
Movie editing is a true art. It is the fine chiseling that produces a David from a rough block of stone. It has become one of the most enjoyable aspects of making a film that I have experienced in my own cinematographic pursuits. I've come to discover that I'm having the most fun when I'm behind the camera, and that includes post-production when I'm getting to look at all that footage we've shot and then deciding what fits best in what will become the final product. It's hard work. It can be heart-wrenching at times, when you're having to decide what to keep and what to cut especially when your cast and crew have been giving nothing less than their best effort. The temptation is to want to include a little bit of everything that you've shot... and unfortunately that just isn't feasible.
I can't begin to imagine the task that Marcia Lucas had set before her. But I also can't help but think that despite it all, in her own way she was having fun too. Marcia believed in Star Wars when few others did. She knew it was worth sharing with others and she knew it was going to be a success.
She was right.
Think I'll watch that first Star Wars movie this afternoon again, in her memory.
